Photonics Dictionary

A CCD that has been reduced in thickness by etching so that light passes through the back layers of the CCD. This type of CCD typically has higher sensitivity, especially to blue light, and higher...

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and record images. CCD cameras are widely used in various applications,...

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital cameras, camcorders, and scientific instruments. It consists of an integrated...

A CCD device for sensing longer wavelengths, such as NIR and IR, that has a deeper depletion region than would be necessary for sensing in the visible wavelength range. Because the depth of charge...

A CCD device in which a solid-state electron multiplying register has been added to the end of the normal serial register. The electron multiplying register allows weak signals to be multiplied...

A CCD image sensor that uses a proximity-focused image intensifier to provide greater sensitivity at low light levels.

A form of infrared CCD that utilizes internal photoemission as a photodetection mechanism.

Designed for the function of optical wavefront analysis. Shack-Hartmann camera aberration sensors use a lens array to image the wavefront to the CCD image plane. Live feedback may be applied through...

When applied to LCD grids, the active matrix is a means of supplying power to pixels by use of a transistor and capacitor. The transistor functions with leads in operation with its respective row and...

The code signifying the location of the information being sought on a CD-ROM.

A device that prevents electrons from a saturated pixel in a CCD imaging device from spilling into an adjacent pixel. The antiblooming gate drains a pixel of any charge in excess of its full-well...

A CCD sensor that provides feedback to the motion control system for a telescope, allowing the telescope to follow a particular object or section of sky automatically.

Beam profiling is a technique used to characterize and analyze the spatial intensity distribution of a laser beam. It involves measuring and visualizing how the optical power or intensity is...

A frame taken with a CCD camera over an exposure length of zero seconds with the lens cap on or the shutter closed and no light reaching the sensor. This frame shows the electronic noise in the...

SI unit of luminous intensity. It is defined as one sixtieth the normal intensity of one square centimeter of a blackbody at the solidification temperature of platinum. A point source of one candela...

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images into electronic signals. It is a key component in digital cameras, camcorders,...

An adaptation by Philips and Sony of their audio compact disc technology for optical disc data storage and retrieval. Current capacity of a disc is 0.5 to 0.6 gigabytes of information.

A technical specification for a consumer product drawn up by Sony and Philips. CD/I combines audio, video and text recorded as interleaved channels on a disc similar to an audio compact disc. The...

A charge-injection device (CID) refers to a class of devices that manipulate and detect electrical charge within a semiconductor material. Charge-coupled devices are a specific implementation of this...

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state image sensor technology. CID cameras are capable of capturing images in a...

Circular dichroism (CD) is a spectroscopic technique used to study the structural characteristics of chiral (asymmetric) molecules, particularly biomolecules like proteins, nucleic acids, and certain...

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to capture digital images. CMOS cameras have become ubiquitous due to their low...

A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used to capture visual information and convert it into electrical signals for...

A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than traditional optical techniques. CGHs are generated entirely in digital form...

A device used in broadcast CCD cameras to improve definition in heavily saturated colors by band-limiting the color difference signals after gamma correction.

A frame taken to identify electronic noise in a CCD imaging device. A dark frame is recorded without exposing the CCD to any external light by, for example, leaving the shutter of a CCD camera...